2020–2021 BCSC Basic and Clinical Science Course™
12 Retina and Vitreous
Part II: Disorders of the Retina and Vitreous
Chapter 06: Retinal Vascular Diseases Associated With Cardiovascular Disease
Arterial Occlusive Disease
Ophthalmic Artery Occlusion
Ophthalmic artery occlusion is very rare. Clinically, the disorder typically produces vision loss to the level of light perception or no light perception because simultaneous nonperfusion of the choroid and retina results in ischemia of all retinal layers. A cherry-red spot may not be present; both the inner retina and outer retina become opacified from the infarction, resulting in an absence of contrast difference between foveal and perifoveal retina that would produce such a spot.
Ophthalmic artery occlusion may be caused by dissection of the internal carotid artery, orbital mucormycosis, or embolization. An increasing number of ophthalmic artery occlusions caused by various cosmetic facial-filler injections, particularly into the periocular and brow area, have been reported, as popularity for such procedures has increased (Fig 6-21). In autopsy studies of patients who died during active GCA, up to 76% had some degree of ophthalmic artery affected by vasculitis; clinically, however, ophthalmic artery occlusion is rare in GCA.
Excerpted from BCSC 2020-2021 series: Section 10 - Glaucoma. For more information and to purchase the entire series, please visit https://www.aao.org/bcsc.